Brady on D&C: 'We'll never forget that game'

Patriots quarterback Tom Brady joined the Dennis & Callahan show Monday morning, as he begins preparation for his fifth Super Bowl. Brady admittedly was not at his best in Sunday's 23-20 victory over the Ravens, throwing two interceptions and no touchdowns, but the Patriots defense helped propel New England to the AFC title.

"The interceptions hurt," Brady said. "It's hard to be productive on offense when you turn the ball over. You go into these games with a plan, with a game plan. They're a very good defense. There are four Hall of Famers on that defense. Every yard, we had to earn. I was driving home yesterday and I said, God, there's some games where you feel like, man, guys are open, bam, you're hitting them. You're moving the ball down the field and you're getting the ball in the end zone, kind of like we did against Denver. And there's other weeks where you're battling for every half a yard. You look at that goal-line situation we had where it's second and a half-yard. You sneak and you think you're in. Then we hand it off on third and you think you're in. Then we got the sneak on fourth down. That's the way it was all day. That's why the Ravens are as good as they are, because they consistently play well on defense.

"I thought we really did move the ball well at times. We didn't do a great job in the red area. And I wish I wouldn't have had the interceptions. But other than that, I thought we did a pretty good job out there. We could have scored more points, but that's every week for us. But it's great to win the game."

The Patriots won the game when Billy Cundiff's 32-yard field goal attempt hooked left with just seconds remaining.

"I couldn't believe it," Brady said. "You sit on the sideline and you're wracking your brain, how you're going to pull this game out. They hit that long play to [Anquan] Boldin and you thought, 'Oh, man.' Then they got to the 11-yard line with plenty of time left, and I though, 'Oh, I hope they don't score here.' Our defense, Sterling [Moore] made a couple of huge plays there, unbelievable plays. Then they come out for the kick and you're kind of getting ready for, 'All right, what are we going to do in overtime?' You look up and the ball doesn't go in. I looked at Billy [O'Brien], and Billy ran over to me. We gave each other a hug. It was a pretty cool feeling. It was a very special night. We'll never forget that game."

Asked if he felt the Patriots have been lucky, Brady said every team has to take advantage of its good fortune.

"Honestly, I don't think you get to this point in the season without a certain degree of luck," he said. "We've been in a lot of tough games all year. Some balls have bounced our way. You see the same thing from the Giants. They barely got into the postseason, and now look at them. They're playing their best football. It's just the way it is. Five, six weeks ago everyone was talking about really two teams, the Packers and the Saints. It was really just a commitment by a lot of guys to be more mentally tough than their opponents.

"To win 10 straight like we have, they certainly haven't all been pretty. The offense has played really well at times. The defense certainly has played really well at times. Special teams, we got huge plays from special teams. It's really been a special season. Now we just have to finish it the way we all want to."

Following are more highlights from the conversation.

On what effect the Nov. 6 game against the Giants will have on the Super Bowl: "We'll certainly look at that game, several times. You see matchups. You see how your guys match up against their guys -- route-running and blocking and so forth. It will have absolutely zero impact on the game, but at the same time, hopefully we can learn some lessons from that game.

"We really lost the turnover battle in that game, which really hurt us. It was a great game. Eli [Manning] drove the team down and they scored with just a few seconds left. It was a great game. it sets up for a great rematch between two teams who have earned the right to represent their conferences in the Super Bowl."

On if he has extra motivation after not playing well Sunday: "There's plenty of motivation there. Just as the Denver game had no impact on yesterday's game, this game will have no impact on the game two weeks from now. I'm going to work as hard as I can these next two weeks to be prepared and to hopefully go out there and play my best game, hopefully the best game I've ever played. That's what I'm expecting, that's what I expect to do. And I know that's what my teammates expect of me."

On the Patriots' Super Bowl XLII loss to the Giants: "I still can't watch highlights from that game. I think that's just the way it is. You get to the end and we had a great opportunity there and really squandered it, because we didn't play our very best."

On defensive standout Vince Wilfork: "He's a phenomenal player. His agility, his quickness, his power, his toughness -- any great adjective you want to describe Vince, you can. He's a great teammate, he's a great leader, a captain. The whole team rallies around him. He's done an incredible job, not only yesterday but all season. Everyone relies on him for that leadership and he certainly provides it, he brings every week."

On honoring the late Myra Kraft: "She's with us every step of the way. We wear those patches on our jersey, and the painting that was commissioned by our team as a present to Mr. Kraft sits in the locker room on game days. I'm sure it will be there on Super Bowl Sunday, too. It's a reminder for us what a special season this is for the owner of our team and his family and all the people who loved Mrs. Kraft so much. There's plenty of spirituality in our locker room, and to have that patch on our jersey. Hopefully we'll go out and represent her well."

Greg and Chris talk with Mike Reiss from ESPN Boston in hour 2 of NFL Sunday to discuss a variety of offseason happenings with the Pats and throughout the league. Greg and Chris also get into the NFL Draft and where Mariota and Winston will go.

Mike Reiss calls the guys to talk about the offseason news for the Pats. He talks about the Pats/Jets tampoering fiasco, free agency, where he sees Ridley and Connolly ending up, if the Patriots would be interested in Reggie Wayne and more.

In the first hour of the show, Greg and Chris discuss the news coming out of the owners' meetings this week and rule changes. Belichick's blow-up over the league not wanting to spend on endzone cameras was well documented and the guys react. They also talk about the Jets ridiculous tampering charges, free agents still lingering out there, where Stevan Ridley will land and the RB position in New England. Dickerson and Price briefly discuss the adventures of Tom Brady before being joined by WEEI.com's Mike Petraglia to talk all things Pats in the offseason.

Flannery joins Mut to break down the Isaiah Thomas trade to Boston and what it means for the Celtics this season and in the future. Paul also chats with Mut about the other deals that happened at the NBA's trading deadline

Mut, Tomase, and Bradford kick things off talking about Shane Victorino taking offense to people reading into some comments he made about trading for Cole Hamels. They also discuss Blake Swihart and how soon he could be up if Christian Vazquez starts the season on the DL.

Joe Kelly joined the Hot Stove show where he talked about being ready for his next spring training start after a biceps ailment forced him out of his last outing, he talks about his NCAA brackets and how teammate Wade Miley has a perfect bracket still.

Peter Chiarelli joined the Sunday Skate crew to talk about the Bruins playoff push heading into the final handful of games of the regular season. Chiarelli talked about avoiding some of the overly negative feedback he gets while realizing that the team does have real issues. He discusses what went down at the trade deadline and if he was happy with the outcome, Lucic having a down year and underperforming, the salary cap and if he considers it as big of an issue as it's been made out to be and what the future holds for the team.

It's a big hour #2 for the Sunday Skate dudes - they talk about the B's defenseman and what the future looks like at that position, with both moves the team can make and younger guys in the AHL. They also get into the Bruins philosophy on bringing guys up and sending them back down and how players deal with that. Finally, the boys are joined by Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli to discuss EVERYTHING.

The Sunday Skate crew gets the show going discussing the Bruins big, impressive victory over the NY Rangers yesterday. What can you take from that game? According to LB - Lyndon Byers - who called the guys from the road, not a lot. LB drops a dime on what was going on with the Rangers yesterday. DJ and Joe discuss Claude's lines and groupings and the importance of Ryan Spooner. They also get into Lucic, his contributions this year and if he can turn things around.

Wrestlemania was a trial run for Super Bowl 50. More Christian dog stuff. Superintendent in Chief William Gross of the BPD deals with some idiotic protesters after the fatal shooting in Roxbury on Friday night.

Shawn Thornton is now a member of the Panthers, who come to town tomorrow night. Thornton spoke about Claude Julien's control of the Bruins locker room, and his own team playing his former team on Tuesday night.